Final Fantasy Cuteness gets to change with World of Final Fantasy Maxima

When World of Final Fantasy It was released for the first time in 2016, I've never had enough. Despite some uncomfortable drawings of dungeons, the game was full of fascinating visual and delightful scriptures. It's the kind of open grind fest open content that's perfect for taking in your morning commuters or lunch breaks. Unfortunately, this was not an option for the original version, unless you were willing to put up with a slow and stuttering PS Vita door. With the jump to the Nintendo Switch, this latest version of World of Final Fantasy Maxima once again brings the adorable console experience into the palm of your hands. Unfortunately, it sacrifices some of that visual charm along the way.

First of all, the good news: if you're playing in dock mode or handheld mode, World of Final Fantasy Maxima never skips in terms of performance. During my period of play, the frame rate remained on a regular and constant 30FPS, and loading times between battles and menus were on par with what I experienced on home consoles.

That silky performance seems to have come at the cost of graphic fidelity, though, because World of Final Fantasy looks rougher on Edge than consoles and PCs. In anchored mode, the quality of textures and shadows appears at about the same level as you would see on PS4 or Xbox versions, but the resolution is clearly much lower. As a result, characters and environments appear blurred and snappy. The game does not look horrible, but lacks the high fidelity of the other versions that made the images successful.

In manual mode, problems get worse. The resolution takes another shot and the colors start to look a little faded. While graphical problems in docked mode were bearable, the drop in quality in handheld mode is a bit excessive for my taste. Most games do a good job of mirroring the visual quality between dock and handheld, but I found myself actively avoiding the portable game whenever I could help with World of Final Fantasy Maxima.

Fortunately, downgrades are not the only news in World of Final Fantasy Maxima. A handful of new features and gameplay improvements help to improve the package for returning players. The biggest for fans of the series is that your brothers and sisters can now turn into legendary Final Fantasy heroes, instead of simply calling them for temporary help. These transformations open up some new game options and skill combinations and help make these iconic characters a little more integrated into the combat.

Also Noctis of Final Fantasy XV comes to the game as a new champion and brings with it a cute fishing mini-game. It's a cute minigame that sees your characters and Noctis fish together, but … it's just a minigame. Cute and funny as it is, the novelty fades quickly.

If you've never played World of Final Fantasy before and you want to be able to have it with you wherever you go, taking it on Nintendo Switch seems like a solid decision. While the graphic downgrades are a disappointment, they do not spoil the addicting gameplay and the exhilarating writing. However, for returning players, Maxima does not add enough content to feel worthy of a double dip. Fortunately, if you're really curious, you can get a discounted DLC Maxima update for the game on other consoles.